I just came upon this interesting thread, and have read it all the way through. I read a lot of good advice here that I hadn't thought of before. I'd like to share with you how I overcame my inability to say the Spanish r. To do that, I have to thank my neighbor and his motorcycle. Almost every evening that he was a neighbor, he fine-tuned his motorcycle. What a racket! After a while, in frustration from the noise, I began to mimic the sound that I was hearing just to keep my cool and entertain myself at the same time. The sound that I made was: "rrrrumm, rrrrumm, rrrrumm." I trilled my tongue against my palate like the sound of that revving 2-cylinder motorcycle engine. When it came time to overcome my inability to trill the Spanish r, I remembered how that sound of the motorcycle was much like what I needed. So, now, instead of trying to trill the Spanish r, I trill the air-only sound of that motorcycle engine. When I'm saying Ricardo, for instance, the ear hears "r" but I'm not saying "r." The only actual letters of the alphabet that I'm speaking are i(e), c(k), a, d, and o. So, for me, there is no "r" in the "spoken" Spanish language when I'm trilling the Spanish r. There is just the fluttering of air that sounds like rr or rrrrrr to the ears. Gracias.

@Dale: I wondered when you were going to find this thread. When I noticed your great looking icon as a new member, I knew I was in trouble. I hope that you didn't take offense if you read my post. By way of explanation, and if my memory serves me correctly, we also had a 2 cylinder 4 stroke which wasn't as good as his Harley with a 2 cylinder 4 stroke. He just had a loud muffler. The rrrummm really helped me nail the Spanish rr sound though.

Well, if you want to have some "audio" on this "rr" thing, you can listen to Carlos (Spanish) and David (who, while shows a bit of his American accent, does the "r" and "rr" correctly.)

(Quiéreme/borra el dolor/no quiero llorar/regresa a mí...)

(Hope this helps!) (Otherwise, just enjoy the music!)

__________________Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie."An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you."

I still don't have it down, but I've managed to do it a couple of times (I just started practicing this morning!). Adding a very quick D sound sort of helps with getting the hang of it. Instead of saying "practice" try "pdactice." (I wouldn't rely on that though.)

Mastering or even learning a foreign language as an adult takes considerable effort. It is not just a walk in the park. I practised rolling that double r so much that my Venezuelan friend told me that I was double rolling even the single rs. How can a learner avoid practising or rehearsing an incorrect pronunciation is something I would really like to know? Thankful for any assistance.

The audio from you tube would no doubt have provided excellent practice. Unfortunately, it is blocked because of copyright restrictions in Trinidad, West Indies. Effort appreciated though JPablo. Any other suggestion for the Caribbean enthusiasts?